This was his own Tingxiao Imperial Palace, so Su Ting naturally recognized it.
Suddenly, he seemed to think of something and squeezed his eyes shut.
After sensing his condition, he opened his eyes again. They were as wide as copper bells, filled with disbelief.
Devil Qi had entered his body, corroding his flesh and devouring his soul.
Never mind the Su Imperial Clan as it was now-even if the Great Emperors of the Liu Imperial Clan came, they might not be able to completely purge the Devil Qi from his body.
Unless he perished together with the Devil Qi.
But wouldn't that mean he'd kick the bucket too?
Su Ting had only taken a moment to sense his current condition, and his eyes shone with uncontainable joy.
He felt wonderful now!
He felt as though he had never been so refreshed in his life!
He lacked nothing now!
He was confident that he could fight the Devil Emperor of All Living Beings for a day and a night-no! He could fight him for a hundred years, even a thousand!
Su Ting stood and looked at Su Ya and the others before him. "First Elder, what on earth happened? How did the Devil Qi in my body disappear?
"Who was it? Who helped me get rid of the Devil Qi?
"Damn it, I have to thank him properly!"
Naturally, Su Ting didn't think the Devil Qi in his body had disappeared on its own.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been in such a miserable state all these years.
Likewise, he didn't believe Su Ya and the others before him were capable of doing it.
Then who else had the ability and was even willing to help him purge the Devil Qi?
It wasn't that his Su Clan was on bad terms with others.
The members of the Su Imperial Clan did have rather explosive tempers, but they believed they had made no fewer contributions than they ought to have.
The fact that their Su Clan had even been willing to leave its ancestral home solely to suppress the Devil Race said it all!
Several imperial clans had once maintained ties with the Su Imperial Clan. As for why they had lost contact later, he wasn't very clear on that either.
In any case, it didn't matter. The Su Imperial Clan had never relied on any underhanded tricks to stand tall for so long, but on genuine strength.
Across from Su Ting, First Elder Su Ya and the others were all staring at him with wide eyes and gaping mouths, as if they had seen a ghost.
That mental state, that oppressive presence-where was there any sign that he was troubled by the corrosive Devil Qi?
This was unmistakably Su Ting, the patriarch of the Su Imperial Clan, at his peak!
Tears streamed!
In an instant, tears slid down Su Ya's cheeks. He was weeping for joy!
It had been hundreds of years since the patriarch of their Su Imperial Clan had been grievously wounded and left at death's door, and the other Great Emperors had been trapped in the Realm Sea.
For hundreds of years, they had worried about their safety every moment, and had constantly feared that the Devil Race might break out of the Realm Sea.
If that happened, their Su Clan would be the first living target, doomed to be reduced to ashes in the Devil Race's flood!
"Do you know how we've made it through these past few hundred years?"
As he thought this, Su Ya looked at Su Chen behind Su Ting and cried out wildly in his heart, Ancestor, you... are... my god!!!!!
It turned out the ancestor hadn't been afraid of losing face at all. He had already completely purged the Devil Qi from the patriarch's body.
And to think they had thought themselves so clever, believing the ancestor had failed!
How ridiculous!
As expected of an ancestor who had lived a second life, both the strength and the methods he had displayed were already far beyond their imagination.
"I'm talking to you, First Elder!"
Seeing Su Ya in tears, Su Ting was dumbfounded. He raised his voice and asked again.
Hearing this, Su Ya and the others still said nothing. Instead, they all looked behind Su Ting in perfect unison.
"Hm?"
At this point, Su Ting also sensed that something was amiss.
He slowly turned around, and there before him stood a young man dressed in green.
At first glance, Su Ting found the man a little familiar.
But he couldn't remember where he had seen him.
Besides, this was Tingxiao Imperial Palace, his own private domain. Especially given that he had been afflicted by Devil Qi and grievously wounded, hovering at death's door all these years, how could Su Ya and the others be foolish enough to let an outsider in here?
But on second thought, he knew how Su Ya and the others conducted themselves, so this person should be a member of the Su Imperial Clan.
But why couldn't he sense the slightest trace of the young man's presence?
He was a top-tier Great Emperor. Even experts at the same realm couldn't escape his senses.
"Little fellow, who are you? Whose child are you?"
Looking at the young man before him, Su Ting changed his previous manner and grew serious, asking the question with a stern face.
Su Ya and the others all knew his temperament, but before a junior, he naturally had to maintain his dignified, serious, and imposing image as patriarch.
The fact that Su Ya had brought this person into his Tingxiao Imperial Palace meant that the boy was at least among the foremost geniuses in the clan at present!
Seeing that Su Chen said nothing, Su Ting coughed and lectured him. "Ahem! Boy, being this shy won't do. You have to train yourself out of it. A man of the Su Clan needs fists when fists are called for and a mouth when words are called for. You can't lose even in a war of words!"
However, Su Ting's attention was on Su Chen, and he failed to notice Su Ya and the others trembling all over, contorting their faces, and frantically signaling him with their eyes.
"What's going on? You're all grown men. Can't you be more composed?"
"First Elder, did you get sand in your eyes?"
Su Ting looked at Su Ya and the others, whose entire manner was unnatural, and asked.
Looking at Su Chen's steadily darkening face, Su Ya finally couldn't help speaking. "P-Patriarch, this is Ancestor Su Chen!"
"Oh? An ancestor!"
Su Ting smiled at his words. "Ancestor Su Chen? Isn't that my father? Hehe... I... wait... what did you say?!!"
The next second, Su Ting looked as though he had been struck by lightning, his hair nearly standing on end. "You mean this young man is my father?"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Su Ya and the others nodded obediently.
Cold sweat had already seeped down Su Ting's back. He then turned around with difficulty, met Su Chen's eyes, and involuntarily studied him.
That really was what his father had looked like when he was young.
At the thought of having grown up under Su Chen's stick, Su Ting went pale with fright and roared at Su Ya and the others, "Get out!"
Hearing this, Su Ya and the others scampered out of Tingxiao Imperial Palace, relieved of a great burden.
"Bang, bang, bang-!!!"
"Aaaah-!!!"
"Clang! Clang!"
"Clatter, clatter!!!"
The group had only just emerged from Tingxiao Imperial Palace when a series of crashing sounds came from behind them.
The entire Tingxiao Imperial Palace was shaking, looking as though it might collapse at any moment.
Amid the violent tremors, a series of screams could faintly be heard, making their hair stand on end!
"Will the patriarch be all right?"
The Second Elder looked toward the distant Tingxiao Imperial Palace, sympathy on his face.
"What could happen? A father beating his son is only right and proper, isn't it? What's so strange about that?" The First Elder looked utterly unconcerned. "Besides, it's not the first time the ancestor has beaten him!"
As the two were speaking, laughter came from the other side.
Everyone turned and saw the Third Elder desperately covering his mouth as he laughed.
The Fourth Elder blinked. "Third Elder, isn't that a little heartless? The patriarch is getting beaten, and you're still in the mood to laugh?"
"What do you know?" the Third Elder retorted. "If you don't hurry up and laugh now, and start laughing when you see the patriarch later, who else is going to get beaten if not you? Which of us hasn't been beaten by the patriarch?"
The Fifth Elder propped his chin on his hand and said slowly, "Hmm... when you put it like that, you seem to have a point?"
They imagined the patriarch emerging later, his whole face black and blue.
Who the hell could keep a straight face?
So...
"Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!"
"..."
For a time, more than a dozen different voices laughed without end outside Tingxiao Imperial Palace!